The suite at night was in a different country.
During the day it was manageable, large enough that two people could occupy it without the occupation feeling significant with the study down the hall drawing Kael out for long hours and the east garden room pulling her in the opposite direction and Aldric appearing at intervals with the scheduling precision of a man who understood that a full calendar was the best preventative measure against the kind of proximity that complicated things.
At night the suite contracted.
Not physically, the dimensions were unchanged, the ceilings still high, the fire still burning in the main room's generous hearth.
But the quality of the space shifted when the castle's ambient noise reduced to the minimum of a court at rest. During the day there w
